Our Voice: We’re grateful for people who inspire us

Inspiration isn’t in short supply in the Mid-Columbia. One doesn’t have to look far to find it.

We’re grateful for these people who are their “brother’s keeper.”

Passion inspires

Pam Frick beat cancer not just once, but twice and she wants other women to know they aren’t alone.

The 48-year-old Richland woman was first diagnosed at 28 while pregnant and then again in 2010 with a different kind of breast cancer.

Working with the Tri-Cities Cancer Center, a support group she co-founded three years ago, the Warrior Sisterhood, helps provide emotional and financial support to women fighting cancer or at a high risk for it.

And there’s Jazz Little, who was just 3 when he was diagnosed Crohn’s disease, the inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract.

Now, the 8-year-old Richland boy sees purpose in the pain he suffered.

The third-grader’s compassion for kids and adults suffering with the same disease led Jazz and his family to become active with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America. Recently, they organized a Tri-City event to raise money and awareness about the condition.

We’re inspired by people like Jazz and Frick, who persevere and use their passion to help and encourage others.

Lifesaving awards

In separate incidents, Kennewick School District employees Ty Cronenwett, Michelle Larrabee, Kennewick police officers Joe Jackson, Holly Baynes Rebecca Jones and Teamster Thomas R. Banta became hometown heroes.

In one situation, a woman suffered a heart attack and school staff and the police joined forces to administer immediate life-saving aid.

In another unexpected circumstance, Banta recognized a co-worker’s signs of stroke and not only helped his co-worker survive but prevented long-term physical damage.

These five individuals were recently honored with a Governor’s Lifesaving Award and their quick actions are inspirational.

Beekeeping

Jonathan Jefferson didn’t start out to inspire others. The fifth-grader just wanted to have a beehive with his dad, Dale, who has hives to pollinate their Finley fruit trees.

But as the 10-year-old’s interest in bees grew, so did the hives.

He has has built them up on his own, dividing them, raising new queens and selling the honey.

His recent talk to 200 Kennewick students may have ignited an interest in beekeeping, and his teacher, Deborah Shay, said it encourages his peers who see what a fellow student can accomplish.

That’s inspiration.

This story was originally published October 21, 2015 at 6:40 PM with the headline "Our Voice: We’re grateful for people who inspire us."